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Post by Carl on Jun 22, 2024 17:16:24 GMT
So, except possibly for the bigger driving-challenge, there's nothing positive about driving in the rain  No, better to watch others do that from your armchair!  Damn the tribology! Full speed ahead  |
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Post by René on Jun 22, 2024 18:36:09 GMT
Back to Le Mans. Rare onboard footage of a full blast lap on the original layout, without chicanes on the Mulsanne straight.
German driver Jürgen Barth shows how it’s done in the Porsche 936/77. Barth teamed up with Jacky Ickx and Hurley Haywood to take the overall win of the 1977 edition.
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Post by Carl on Jun 23, 2024 1:27:32 GMT
I'm no fan of Mike Hawthorn, but I hold Jaguar in high regard. Here's a lap in the D-Type filmed in 1956 
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Post by René on Jul 12, 2024 14:08:08 GMT
6 hours of São Paulo The sports cars will be in action this weekend in Brazil at the Interlagos circuit. A fantastic track with guaranteed lots of action. Relatively cool conditions in São Paulo and probably no rain this weekend.  Ferrari, Toyota and Porsche are again favorites. Ferrari has brought the first update for the 499P to Brazil! The very first update for this car at all, what a contrast with Formula 1! But at the same time they have been handed the biggest BoP weight increase (Balance of Power). First practice session is just underway. 
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Post by René on Jul 12, 2024 21:06:22 GMT
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Post by René on Jul 15, 2024 15:57:56 GMT
Toyota #8 has won and was simply too strong for the competition. Porsche had a good race finishing 2nd and 3rd with the works cars. Ferrari was not really in the game as the extra 18kg BoP weight took its toll, finishing 5th and 6th.   |
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Post by robmarsh on Jul 30, 2024 9:19:07 GMT
Carl
A while back you asked why the cars had open apertures above the wheels. I said at the time it was probably to relieve pressure and to stop the cars from lifting. Actually it was mandated by the ACO, Automobile Club de Ouest, the organisers of the Le Mans 24 hours, back in 2013 to stop the cars from flying in event of an accident. I discovered this whilst reading a book about the 100 years of Le Mans by Richard Williams.
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Post by Carl on Jul 30, 2024 23:19:14 GMT
Carl A while back you asked why the cars had open apertures above the wheels. I said at the time it was probably to relieve pressure and to stop the cars from lifting. Actually it was mandated by the ACO, Automobile Club de Ouest, the organisers of the Le Mans 24 hours, back in 2013 to stop the cars from flying in event of an accident. I discovered this whilst reading a book about the 100 years of Le Mans by Richard Williams. Rob, I thought it was Adrian Newey who asked...
I'll never forget the Mercedes CLR prototypes 25 years ago at LeMans! Drivers have described an eerie silence while airborne.
The same phenomenon happened many times to Can-Am cars at the St Jovite / Mount Tremblant circuit, their speed too fast for one particular section...
----The following quote is from primotipo.com/tag/mont-tremblant-1977----
"In the middle of St Jovite’s backstraight was a humpbacked rise over which the Can-Am cars of Paul Hawkins and Hugh Dibley had taken flight in 1966. Ditto Jackie Oliver in 1970. In afternoon practice Elliott Forbes-Robinson became the first driver to fly a new-era Can-Am car through the air when his flipped as he tried to go over the hump on full throttle. Miraculously, the car cartwheeled through 360 degrees and landed upright on all four wheels. Forbes-Robinson jumped unscathed from the wreckage.
Later that day Brian Redman had a much more serious accident. Redman’s car did a violent backflip, landing upside-down and leaving him unconscious and in a critical condition with a broken left collarbone, a cracked sternum, two broken ribs and a fractured vertebra in his neck. Redman lay heavily sedated in hospital for a week while the swelling and contracting of his brain’s epidermis ran its course and his doctors assessed the damage to his brain and nervous system.
Deeply shaken by Redman’s accident, the Haas/Hall team withdrew from the race and headed home. With the three-time F5000 champion in hospital, a makeshift chicane was installed before the backstraight hump. Redman recalled that ‘…the roll bar broke and my head went down on the road. My helmet was worn away on each side. But as the car rolled off the track onto the surrounding land, it landed on its wheels, which was a good job. Because my heart had stopped and the track doctor was a heart specialist- he got that going again. And then on the way to the hospital the ambulance blew a tyre!’" |
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Post by robmarsh on Jul 31, 2024 8:38:41 GMT
Thanks Carl
Redman was very lucky. Paul Hawkins sadly died a few years later in a Lola T70.
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Post by René on Jul 31, 2024 9:31:13 GMT
Great posts! Very informative and reminds us of different times. And what a story about the flying Can-Am cars! Amazing Redman survived.  I do remember of course the Mercs doing a backflip (we all do I guess) which was terrifying! Good to know this can’t happen again. |
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Post by mikael on Jul 31, 2024 10:23:45 GMT
Brian Redman tried a good deal. This article is fascinating reading:
Apropos of Spa Francorchamps, this citation is particularly interesting:Here is the famous photo taken just moments before his large accident at Spa 1968 (mentioned in the article), showing that the right front suspension (lower wishbone) has "snapped":
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Post by René on Aug 31, 2024 9:28:02 GMT
The 6 Hours of COTA
  The sports prototypes are back in action this weekend, this time at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Porsche fastest in FP1 and a Ferrari 1-2 in FP2.  Ferrari has won twice since their return to this championship, twice the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I'm sure they wouldn't trade that for other race wins, but can they finally win somewhere else? They should have won at Spa, they should have won at Imola, but bad luck and their own mistakes got in the way. Maybe this time in America! 
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Post by René on Sept 1, 2024 11:04:33 GMT
Pole position for the Ferrari #51 and the yellow sister Ferrari on P2! Cadillac on P3.  1. 51 Ferrari AF Corse HYPERCAR 1:50.390 2. 83 AF Corse Ferrari HYPERCAR 1:50.667 3. 2 Cadillac Racing HYPERCAR 1:50.680 4. 35 Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR 1:50.751 5. 50 Ferrari AF Corse HYPERCAR 1:50.818 6. 5 Porsche Penske Motorsport HYPERCAR 1:50.874 |
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Post by René on Sept 2, 2024 17:30:28 GMT
After the Monza success, the Ferrari party wasn't over yet because they also triumphed at the Circuit of the Americas!  The #83 Ferrari 499P of Robert Schwartzman, Robert Kubica and Yefei Ye triumphed in Austin. They took back the lead 40 minutes before the end from the Toyota #7 that got a drive through penalty for ignoring yellow flags. The Toyota finished second and the Ferrari #50 finished third.  It was the first 'non-Le Mans' victory for Ferrari in the World Sports Car Championship since Jacky Ickx and Brian Redman won at the Nürburgring in 1973 with the 312PB! A historic and glorious day for the Scuderia. Two celebration flags were added at the main entrance in Maranello. Enzo would be pleased.  |
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Post by Carl on Sept 2, 2024 18:39:46 GMT
After the Monza success, the Ferrari party wasn't over yet because they also triumphed at the Circuit of the Americas! It was the first 'non-Le Mans' victory for Ferrari in the World Sports Car Championship since Jacky Ickx and Brian Redman won at the Nürburgring in 1973 with the 312PB! A historic and glorious day for the Scuderia. Two celebration flags were added at the main entrance in Maranello. Enzo would be pleased. A great outcome for Ferrari and Robert Kubica! |
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